Let it go

So instead of getting its hands dirty, the EU has decided to deal with the refugee crisis by sending out a message. A message to Syrians running away from their war-torn country.

By deporting the some 160,000 refugees back to Turkey without assessment under a one-in one-out mechanism – for every Syrian sent back to Turkey after arriving in Greece, a Syrian would, in theory, be flown to Europe from Turkey – those deported would go back to square one. Those who have had the will, health, endu-rance and terror to make their way into Europe under the most atrocious conditions will go to the back of the long queue of the ‘fortunate’ to be led on to Europe.

Supposedly this defines the message at hand: discouraging refugees to embark on this insane journey and reduce illegal boat journeys.

Surely there’s another way to monitor the Turkish coasts. But I won’t get into that.

Returning refugees to a country where the majority will lack full access to basic human needs which are meant to be guaranteed under the 1951 treaty, the most important one, in my eyes, being safety, is quite bluntly, criminal.

I cringe at the idea. Not because I have a great solution in mind. But because to me, as a mere human being, I cannot accept that men, women, children, Humans, are breathing a life whose story no one would be comfortable describing, let alone living.

I’ve been told to let it go, under the basis that each of us are delivered our paths, that I cannot compare my life to theirs, even though ‘we’ could, at some point, very much find ourselves in the same position. Who knows what the next 20 years will bring.

Precisely, the demarcation of peoples is what is impertinently nagging at my conscience. We all live different lives. However similar we are, each individual is quite unique. And it’s the very respect of this uniqueness that leads us to being civilised, to embrace progress, to understanding our very nature.

As borders close across Europe, as Turkey rapes freedom of speech, and as America loses itself in the power of financial gain, we may think we can go about our daily lives with our heads up. But we’re actually gradually being eaten up by systems that have no morals, no values, and absolutely no integrity.